Russian troops are just 25km away from encircling Ukraine’s elite special forces in a potential major victory for Vladimir Putin in the Donbas.
Russia’s capture of the Severodonetsk region would see the whole of Luhansk Oblast placed under Russian occupation, the Ministry of Defence has warned. The operation, which is currently Moscow’s main focus, is only one part of their campaign to seize the Donbas.
If the Donbas frontline moved further west, the MoD said it would extend Russian lines of communication and likely lead to forces facing further logistic resupply difficulties.
“Russia has increased the intensity of its operations in the Donbas as it seeks to encircle Severodonetsk, Lyschansk, and Rubizhne,” the MoD said in a statement on Twitter.
“At present the northern and southern axes of this operation are separated by approximately 25kms of Ukrainian-held territory.”
“There has been strong Ukrainian resistance with forces occupying well dug-in defensive positions. Ukraine’s long-established Joint Force Operation likely retains effective command and control of this front.”
Follow the latest updates below.
07:01 AM
Famine could cause more death than war: Grant Shapps
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned that famine caused by grain and food shortages due to the invasion of Ukraine could cause more deaths than the war itself.
He said he met with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksandr Kubrakov in Germany last week to discuss how help could be provided to help grain leave.
He told Sky News: “I think it’s absolutely essential that we do, unless there could be a lot of hunger and indeed even famine that could dwarf the numbers involved in the war itself.”
Asked if military ships will be sent, Mr Shapps said: “I can’t go into specific detail, there are a lot of complexities to this including mined waters near Odesa port, clearly the situation with Russia and (Vladimir) Putin and their approach to this could make that very difficult.
“But it’s hard to overestimate how much Ukraine was and is the breadbasket of the world.”
06:31 AM
Philippine President criticises ‘idol’ Putin for ‘killing civilians’
Outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sharply criticised Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the killings of innocent civilians in Ukraine, saying while the two of them have been tagged as killers, “I kill criminals, I don’t kill children and the elderly.”
Mr Duterte, who openly calls Putin an idol and a friend, voiced his rebuke for the first time over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in remarks aired Tuesday where he blamed the three-month old war for the spike in global oil prices that has battered many countries, including the Philippines.
While stressing he was not condemning the Russian president, Mr Duterte disagreed with Putin’s labeling of the invasion as a “special military operation,” and said it was really a full-scale war waged against “a sovereign nation.”
Addressing Putin “as a friend” and the Russian Embassy in Manila, Mr Duterte urged them to stop bombing and firing artillery rounds on residential areas and allow innocent civilians to safely evacuate before launching a bombardment.
“I’m on the way out and I don’t know how to solve the problem,” Mr Duterte said. “You have to solve the war between Ukraine and Russia before we can talk of even returning to normalcy.”
Mr Duterte, who steps down on June 30 when his turbulent six-year term ends, has presided over a brutal anti-drugs crackdown that has left more than 6,000 mostly petty suspects dead.
05:52 AM
Biden calls Russia’s war on Ukraine a ‘global issue’
US President Joe Biden called the crisis in Ukraine a “global issue” on Tuesday, which heightened the importance of maintaining international order, territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Mr Biden’s comments, delivered at the opening of the ‘Quad’ meeting of Indo-Pacific leaders in Tokyo, come a day after he broke with convention and volunteered US military support for Taiwan, the self-governed island claimed by China.
“This is more than just a European issue. It’s a global issue,” Mr Biden said of the Ukraine situation.
Mr Biden stressed Washington would stand with its allies and push for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“International law, human rights must always be defended regardless of where they’re violated in the world,” he said.
05:36 AM
Russia intensifies Donbas operations
Russia’s capture of the Severodonetsk region would see the whole of Luhansk Oblast placed under Russian occupation, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said.
The operation, which is currently Moscow’s main focus, is only one part of their campaign to seize the Donbas.
If the Donbas frontline moved further west, the ministry said it would extend Russian lines of communication and likely lead to forces facing further logistic resupply difficulties.
“Russia has increased the intensity of its operations in the Donbas as it seeks to encircle Severodonetsk, Lyschansk, and Rubizhne,” the ministry said in a statement on Twitter.
“At present the northern and southern axes of this operation are separated by approximately 25kms of Ukrainian-held territory.
“There has been strong Ukrainian resistance with forces occupying well dug-in defensive positions. Ukraine’s long-established Joint Force Operation likely retains effective command and control of this front.”
However, Russia has achieved some localised successes due to concentrating artillery units, the ministry added.
03:25 AM
Ukraine ready for prisoner exchange
President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Monday that Kyiv was ready for a prisoner exchange with Russia “even tomorrow” and called on his allies to put pressure on Moscow.
“The exchange of people – this is a humanitarian matter today and a very political decision that depends on the support of many states,” Mr Zelensky said in a question-and-answer video link at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“It is important … to pressure politically on any level, through powerful business, through the closure of businesses, oil embargo … and through these threats actively intensify the exchange of our people for Russian servicemen,” he said.
“We do not need the Russian servicemen, we only need ours,” Mr Zelensky said.
“We are ready for an exchange even tomorrow.”
The president said Ukraine has involved the United Nations, Switzerland, Israel and “many, many countries”, but the process was very complicated.
Thousands of people are in captivity after Russia captured the southern port city of Mariupol and as a result of the battle in the eastern Donbas region.
02:28 AM
Today marks three months of war
Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, with Tuesday marking three months since the war began.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said since the start of the invasion, the Russian army had launched 1,474 missile strikes at Ukraine, using 2,275 different missiles.
“The vast majority was aimed at civilian objects,” Mr Zelensky said.
More than 3,000 air strikes by Russian aircraft and helicopters have also targeted Ukraine.
02:06 AM
In pictures: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
01:25 AM
Zelensky confirms 87 deaths in Desna
Russia’s attack on the Ukrainian town of Desna in the Chernihiv region last week resulted in 87 deaths, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky confirmed the death toll in his nightly video address on Monday, on the eve of the three-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The clearance of debris in Desna in the Chernihiv region has been completed. 87 dead. And these were only four missiles,” he said.
The town’s death toll could be one of the largest of any single strike during the war.
01:18 AM
Today’s top stories
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A Ukrainian court sentenced a 21-year-old Russian tank commander Sgt Vadim Shishimarin to life in prison for killing a Ukrainian civilian, in the first war crimes trial since Russia’s invasion
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Russian president Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt at the start of the war in Ukraine, a Kyiv intelligence chief disclosed
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Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe
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A Russian diplomat at the country’s permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva said on Monday he was leaving his post because of his disagreement with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a rare political resignation over the war
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Ukraine’s First Lady warned a WHO assembly that the impacts of Russia’s war on healthcare and mental health could be felt for decades
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President Volodymyr Zelensky also said Ukraine is in talks over establishing food corridors to export its grain
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Some 20 countries have announced new security assistance packages for Ukraine during a virtual meeting with allies aimed at coordinating arms for Kyiv, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said
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Some 87 people were killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Desna last Tuesday, Mr Zelensky said, in what would be Ukraine’s biggest military death toll in a single strike of the war
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Mr Zelensky used the Davos summit of global economic leaders to issue a fresh appeal for more weapons for his country and “maximum” sanctions against Moscow
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Russian troop casualties in Ukraine “likely” match the death toll from Soviet Union’s nine-year war in Afghanistan, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said
